Now What?!

I successfully endured 13 weeks teaching at a Junior High School.  I might need a little therapy...but who doesn't?!

I know you're all really anxious to hear how I've celebrated my freedom...

First, I went to my mom's house.  I knew she was watching my neice, Taylor, and any chance I get to see cuteness, I jump at!  Fortunately she and her parents hadn't yet left for the zoo.  AND Taylor was feeling very affectionate today and gave me some AWESOME hugs!  Love her face so much!

Then, I had some Spring Oreos.  They have yellow frosting and spring designs.  I don't particularly care.  They still taste like oreos.  And I had them with milk because that's how I roll. 

After my mom got back from some quick visiting teaching, I let her give me a pedicure.  I'm really generous that way.  What?  I have to have cute toes for Washington DC(even though they'll be in comfortable walking shoes the whole time...).

Then, my red piggies and I went home and got to work.  I had a brilliant idea to clean and organize my bedroom.  AND I decided I'd do a little furniture rearranging while I was at it. 

At this point in the process, I realized I had had MUCH better ideas in my 29 years on this earth.  Furniture is heavy.  Even dressers from Ikea.  I was smart enough to take the drawers out though.  I however, DID NOT take the books off my bookshelf when I moved it.  I'm lucky I did herniate something.

After much grunting and hefting(and a few choice words)...

I got my life put back together pretty well, don't you think?  I even hauled the vacuum up stairs and vacuumed the floors. 

Of course, now that I've done all this...what am I going to do with my free time?

The Reason I'm SO Grateful For Sleepy Hollow

The further away I get from it, the more I realize that, for me, Sleepy Hollow, wasn't about being part of the production.  I wasn't there to "do a show".  Heaven knows, I was barely in the show. 

I really think that the most important reason for me to be in the show was to get to know this guy...

This is my cousin, Garrett.  He's pretty cool.  Even cooler than he looks in this picture, if you can believe it.

Many of you might be thinking, "You had to do a show to get to know your cousin?!  Shame on you!"  Give me a second to defend myself, okay?  Garrett is 10 years younger than me.  Almost exactly 10 years, in fact.  And I have A LOT of cousins, especially on that side of the family.  And usually, I "hang out with" the ones that are closer to my age.  After all, those are the ones I grew up with(come on folks!  I was pretty much grown up by the time this kid became "fun"). 

But fate threw us together for Sleepy Hollow.  And I'm oh so very grateful!  He's quirky and funny.  And like any little brother-type(10 years younger, remember?), he has his moments when I want to slug him.  But, as a fellow oldest-child, I have to say, he's pretty awesome.

He left on a mission just a few days after Sleepy closed.  I've been a super amazing cousin and have written him...three times.  That's right.  I'm pretty amazing myself.  Anyway, the letters I get back from him are perfect and exactly what I've needed on the very day I get them.  The first letter arrived on a truly awful day.  I was just about to throw in the towel and give up on life(it sounds so dramatic now, but it was a REALLY bad day).  He didn't know what was going on in my life, and yet, he said exactly what I needed to hear.  It was seriously a turning point.  And whenever I'm struggling, I pull that letter out and read it again just because I need the reminder. 

Today, I got home and the mail was on the counter.  It included a couple items from the University of Utah(that happens now that I've been accepted and all).  And there was a letter from Garrett.  He's a really busy missionary and I'd written him a while back and wasn't particularly looking for a letter, but it was a welcome surprise.  So I took a time out and tore it open.  And sure enough, it said the very thing I needed to hear. 

You see, I decided on Sunday that my control-freak personality was really getting in the way of my happiness.  I decided that I needed to exercise more patience and faith.  And I remembered my little plaque(it's packed away in some box in my Aunt's house) with the quote from Neal A. Maxwell "Faith in God includes Faith in His timing."  Oh yeah.  His timing.  Not mine.  Living a world of instant gratification doesn't really help with the whole patience thing.  And what did Garrett have to say?  Well, in all the wisdom of his 19 years(10 fewer than me) and the inspiration of a faithful missionary, he told me that he'd learned that He has the power and everything works according to His timing and unfortunately our timing doesn't always coincide. 

I just had to smile, shake my head and say a silent prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father for putting both Garrett and I in Sleepy Hollow. 

Fascinating

A friend on Facebook posted this article and I thought it was interesting and that some of you out in Reader Land would be intrigued as well.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/the-brain-on-love/?hp

I Need a Hobby

So I only have 7 more days of teaching.  And, assuming I survive, I'm going to have some time on my hands.  I mean, I have a couple things I'll be doing.  I'll be going back to watching Wilson and Gretchen(right Lacee?).  And I'm thinking I might pick up a couple piano students.  And I will have the University of Utah until the end of April.  AND I can keep subbing(as long as there are jobs) until the end of May.  Oh and I have some music theory studying to do and piano technique garbage to brush up on.

But...as it is with my only teaching until 11:30, I'm already bored in the afternoons.  And I can only clean my house so much until my roommates stage an intervention and ship me off to the Loony Bin.  And I can only practice so long before the neighbors and the roommates start to throw things at me.

It's up to all of you to come up with my new hobby.  Leave a comment with a suggestion on how I should fill me free time.  Aren't you all excited to be making such important life decisions for me? 

Spring into Action

I love me some Spring!  I love when the snow starts to melt, and the flowers start peaking thru the dirt.  I love when temperature starts climbing and the sun stays out longer than usual.  I love all the outside activites you can do and the fact that you can open the windows.

I don't so much love the allergies or the bugs that start creeping back out.

But what I love most about Spring, is the feeling of change that comes.  Out with the snow; in with the flowers!  Mother Nature does a little Spring Cleaning of her own, with the rain and wind. 

And Spring Cleaning gives me an excuse to not look like I belong in the Loony Bin for my OCD tendencies(There's nothing wrong with being a clean person!).  I've done a bit of cleaning here and there in preparation for Sping Cleaning.  But now, the gloves come off...or rather, it's time to put the gloves on.  The Cleaning Gloves, that is.  I've got big plans for this next week!  And it's always nice therapy, and after last week, I definitely have some things to put behind me. 

And you know, my house isn't the only thing that needs Spring Cleaning.  I think Spring is a great time to reevaluate things in life and do a little clean out there too.  Fortunately after 8 more days of teaching, I'll be able to take care of a big old piece of stress and can move on to other things.  I've appreciated the learning experience of teaching and basically having my own classes.  And I've learned a lot of things about what I like about teaching and what I DON'T like about teaching.  And there have been a few valuable life lessons too.  But it's starting to eek into other parts of my life, and I don't like that one little bit.

There are a few other things I need to clear out too.  I'm caring around more bitterness about various things than is really healthy.  It's time to let go and move beyond.  Being single again is rearranging my life in ways I really didn't see coming.  So I'm still settling things that way.    Also, I've really got to start working out again.  Spring weather means no more sweaters and long pants.  I need to make myself more publicly presentable(i.e. Not glow in the dark and not flabby...and yes, I know I'm skinny, but I still would like to be leaner). 

Wow!  I've got a lot on my Spring To Do List!  What am I doing blogging?  I need to get busy!

I've Been to Hell

And hopefully I'll make it back.

You know, after I auditioned for the music program at the U, I had this thought, "Ah crap!  I should have applied for the music education program.  I would have definitely gotten into that." 

And now I'm grateful I didn't.  Seriously.  Every day this week, it's been a new reason why I won't be teaching, especially at a Junior High.  Actually, it's the same reason every day:  Parents.  I have had the unfortunate displeasure of dealing with some of the world's most manipulative, vindictive, and stupid parents this week.  I've been told I'm incapable of speaking for myself.  I've been told I'm a bad teacher.  I've been told I have no control over a classroom environment.  I've been bullied as the parents try to get U's changed.  These parents have done their very best to try to destroy every shred of self-esteem I have.  They've tried to get me to quit.  They've tried to get me fired.

And to be perfectly honest, I was really close to quitting this week.  But then I decided I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of thinking they had successfully bullied me into quitting.

I only have 9 more days.  The boys got reamed out by the teacher and assistant principal on Wednesday.  And they got to write letters about what had been going on in the class.  My good students competely backed up everything I'd told the teacher and administration had been happening.  They named names and specific examples, including things they had overheard before school.  These little buttfaces had been geting together before class and discussing how they were going to belittle me in front of the rest of the class.  The planned what they were going to do to undermine my teaching.  I spent hours pouring over papers on classroom management and such trying to determine the best way to handle this class.  And clearly everything was doomed to fail because they were working hard to make it fail. 

And then they have the nerve to look at their parents and tell them they don't understand why they are getting a U.  And of course the parents believe them. 

So this week has been so absolutely awful.  I'm determined to make it through the last 9 days I have to teach relatively unscathed.  Everyone from the teacher, to administration, to the counselors have told me that I've handled everything perfectly by the book and performed admirably with the arrogant parents I had to meet with.

And I have a nice 3-day weekend to recuperate.  Wish I could go on a vacation.  I seriously need one.  Of course, going alone isn't fun...but I REALLY need a vacation!  Try and disagree with me.

Superior

The really big thing for this term for my 9th grade choir, was District Choir Festival.  We've been working on the pieces since we got back from Christmas break.  We had Solo and Ensemble too.  But this festival was a really big deal.

The festival was held tonight at Northridge High in Layton.  We sang 3 songs(including one in german) and had to sight read.  And....

They did AWESOME!  Straight Superior marks for the choir!  Even in Sight Reading, and that's a really big deal!

I'm so proud of my 9th graders!  They've worked really hard and had to put up with my crazy "That's not how Mrs Young does it" techniques.  Apparently they weren't THAT crazy, because we got Superior scores straight across the board!  Huzzah!

And now we can chill.  I have 12 more days of teaching.  And then a well-deserved week in Washington DC...with a different choir. 

I am absolutely exhausted though.  Physically and emotionally.  And I've got to get charged up for what tomorrow will bring with angry boys and parents.  Phew!  Off to bed! Here's hoping for some GOOOOD dreams...

Professor Umbridge Reincarnated

I think my 8th grade boys see me as this sugar coated Harry Potter "villain". 

Of course, any of you who know me, know that there's nothing sugar coated about me.  I don't pretend to be something that I'm not.  Also, I'm allergic to cats and no one should wear that much pink. 

But lurking there behind the sweet facade, is a rage rivaling Lord Voldemort.  Plus she has that really awesome quill that carves things into the back of naughty children's hands.  I wish I had me some of those quills. 

I have something else though.  I have power over citizenship grades.  And 4 of the darling 8th grade boys are getting U's(Unsatisfactory) citizenship grades for the term.  The parents were notified via email last night.  This means that I started dealing with the repercussions of this before school this morning.  And it continued all day long.  Tomorrow, I get to have a parent meeting after school.  And this mother has already tried to bully the principal.  So, it should be exciting.  I wish I had a magic quill for parents too.

I'm really getting frustrated with the parents who want me to let their children be disrespectful to me and their peers and not give them any consequences for their actions.  I'm sorry but the system was put in place for a reason.  Call me a Nazi Dictator.  Call me a Communist Tyrant.  Call me Professor Umbridge.  Call me what you want.  But I'm not backing down.

I think this is what the Parents and Students expect me to look like when they're "done with me".

They're going to be very disappointed.  I've documented everything.  This isn't my first rodeo, kids.  Plus, I've coordinated with the teacher and administration through out the whole thing.  I'm not just a pretty face.

I'm prepared.  But I really think it's ridiculous that it is coming to this at all.



Adventures of the Single Life: The Roommate Experiment

Most of the time, I pretty happy I have roommates. My one roommate, Lindsey is really great. We play well together. We stay out of each other's way when necessary. We clean up after ourselves and don't mind picking up the slack when the other is having a busy day or week. We've gone to movies and gone shopping together. Part of the reason is probably that we're both a little older(she's 31). But we're also both responsible, neat and tidy people.

My other roommate, Bealynn, is 25 and not so responsible or neat and tidy. Lindsey and I are constantly cleaning up after her. She leaves her stuff everywhere. When she cooks, she's tornado.

This week, I'm conducting an experiment. Lindsey is out of town. It's just me and Bea. She's already made a disaster in the kitchen that she hasn't cleaned up(that was last night). I ran the dishwasher last night and emptied it today. The experiment is that I'm only cleaning up the mess that I make this week. And I really don't anticipate much mess since I'm really busy this week with various things(so ready for the District Choir Festival to be over Tuesday night...there will be a blog post about that for sure).

Pretty much any mess that is around the apartment, kitchen especially, will be Bea's. I'm wondering if she'll figure out that I'm not cleaning up after her. I'm hoping it will kick her in the pants and get her to start cleaning up her own freaking messes. She always says she will, but seriously, days will go by and she still won't have taken care of it.

Right now there's one pan in the sink, one on the stove and a whole slew of utensils and rubbermaid containers strewn all over the house. It's already a disaster and I'm sure if I can survive this experiment. But I'm not very confrontational, so this is the only way I can think of to try to deal with it.

I'll keep you all posted on how the experiment goes.

When Will My Life Begin?

My niece, Emma, loves Tangled(and all things Disney Princess).  And every time she sees my iPhone, she says, "Sing Tangled!" or "Sing Belle"(you don't know adorable until you hear her say "Bonjour Papa!").    So I break out the Tangled Song "When Will My Life Begin".  She even knows some of the words.  She's sing "Wondering and Wondering and Wondering and Wondering".  It's really cute!

I confess, I feel like Rapunzel sometimes.  I've especially felt that way the last month or so.  I feel like I wake up and do the same thing.  I've been trying to work out the kinks of being single again.  And quite often it feels like an uphill battle.  Making life-altering decisions, especially ones I've already made once and thought I was done with, is over-whelming.  I've had more than a few breakdowns(sorry to those who have had to hear me whine) and honestly, a couple times, I've just thrown my hands in the air and said, "I give up"!  And after yesterday's DAY FROM HELL, I felt that way generally.

This morning, I really struggled getting out of bed.  I really wanted it to be Saturday(I've felt that way since Monday, so it's been a particularly long week).  What I needed was a jump start to get my butt out of bed.  So I pulled out the iPhone and set it to shuffle.  And guess what came up?  "When Will My Life Begin"  And not only does that remind me of my cute little Emma, but it's has a nice "get your butt out of bed" beat.

So I started getting ready for the day.  It was the same routine as always.  Glasses off, Contacts in, bathroom, shower, dressed, hair, make up, down to breakfast.  I was running a little behind so I grabbed an orange and threw it in my bag.  And that's when I noticed the mail on the counter.  I came home and immediately went up to my bedroom last night after the nightmare of Solo and Ensemble.  I didn't even know that the roommates had gotten the mail.  And I wasn't really expecting anything.  So I shuffled through and was going to leave it there until the afternoon.  But then and envelope caught my eye.  It was from the University of Utah.

Most of you are thinking that this shouldn't be such a big deal.  I work at the University of Utah, so that shouldn't be weird.  It wasn't weird.  I was expecting mail from the University of Utah School of Music.  You see, a few weeks ago, I had a MASSIVE breakdown and spontaneously decided to apply for school and the U and set up and audition for the School of Music.  Good thing I have a repertoire to choose from because the audition was in 10 days.  I know, I'm a crazy person.  I didn't tell very many people(like seriously only a handful) so that I didn't have as many people to tell when I didn't get in.  It's goin to be my new approach to show auditioning too.

Of course, I ended up getting sick.  Sore throat+yelling at jr high kids = Wendi not being able to practice much.  There were days I really had no voice.  Anyway, the audition came and I was a little nervous, but mostly because I was still sick and hadn't been able to prepare the way I wanted to.  I had to sing for the voice faculty.  It was more than a little intimidating.  Fortunately, I had performed in the space before.  After my audition, I had to interview with the committee.  I felt like I had to justify every life decision I'd ever made.  I came out of it feeling not so great.  My singing was fine.  Not great, I was sick.  But it was fine.  And I felt like I didn't have the right answers to the questions.  And I had to take a spontaneous Theory Test.  It was easy.  I probably got 100%.  But I don't want a degree in theory(yuck). 

And that's why, when I saw the envelope from the University of Utah School of Music, I assumed it was the "Thank you for your interest in our program...but you should consider beauty school.  No more music for you" letter. 

"I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission into the Bachelor of Arts degree program in Music for the 2012-2013 academic year.  The competition for admission was very high this year and we were impressed with your musical talent."

It seems the stars are beginning to align.  I'm still waiting for my admission to the University of Utah.  Weber State has been having a hard time getting my transcripts to the U.  And I can't really afford to go if I don't get scholarships and/or financial aid.  So there are still some things that need to come together. 

But I'm pleasantly surprised that this is a possibility.  I've always regretted not finishing my music degree.  And I'm really excited about going back and studying music.  At the very least, it should keep me busy for the next few years.  I figure it will take about 3 years to get my music degree.  It might take less.  We'll have to see.  It just depends on how much of my previous music credit they take.  I'm going to spend the summer studying up on my Music Theory so I can test out of a couple of those classes.  And I have a piano proficiency exam to take so I don't have to take group piano class(I would seriously go crazy in one of those classes).  I think I can do it though. 

Another really great part...My grandparents are crazy University of Utah fans.  They're Crimson Club members and have season tickets to football and basketball.  And none of their grandchildren have gone to the University of Utah.  I would have gone there the first time around, but Weber offered me better scholarships.  I think they're secretly really excited that I'm planning on the U this time around.

Anyway, I've been wondering and wondering, wondering and wondering when will my life begin?  I think this is the next beginning.  And I'm really excited about it!

Is it Friday yet?

You know, there really wasn't anything spectacular about this morning, but there wasn't anything CRAPtacular about it either. It just was. And that's just kind of the way I expected the whole day to be. Not so much.

I had only been at the school for 10 minutes this morning when I received a visit from a mom and a student. And 8th grade boy whom I had sent to the office on Monday. Apparently Monday was his birthday too. Oh well. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you get to be a buttface in my class. And it's not like it's the first time he's been that way. This is the 3rd time he's visited the office. Anyway, he and his mother needed to talk to me because he wants to run for SBO. But he can't do that if he has even one U(Unsatisfactory citizenship...Unsatisfactory is an understatement for some of these kids I've been dealing with). So they wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be getting a U.

Um maybe you should have thought of the consequences for your actions. Because you are SO getting a U. Several of the other kids are too. I explained that according to school citizenship policy, it's an automatic U for being disrespectful to a Substitute. "Well, Mr Muna(the assistant Principal) said it wasn't necessarily automatic." Did he? Well that's just swell. But guess what? Your little darling has more than earned his Unsatisfactory citizenship in my class. All this time, I'm thinking, I really should have an administrator with me. This mother is going to try to strong-arm me into letting her kid off the hook. Of course, she has no idea who she's dealing with. I'm not a push over. Especially not when it comes to stuff like this. It's probably because I was a little bit of a nerd growing up and I got sick of seeing the rules bent for certain people(never me). I tell her that I'll email Mrs. Young and talk to her about what she wants to do because I don't know what the policy is for working off Us or anything like that(I never had a U, how would I know how it all works?). And then she says, "Oh and he's a little confused about Monday." The kid proceeds to tell me he doesn't know why he was sent to the office.

SERIOUSLY? Because you came in after class to apologize(yeah it was heart-felt whatever) and I explained to you then why you were sent. But I'll do it again. You were dancing around and generally disrupting the class while I was trying to teach. You were mocking the techniques we were learning. "I wasn't. I was just doing what I supposed to." Um. No. You weren't. "How could you see me? You weren't even looking in my direction." Funny thing kid. I know you. There's a reason you sit on the front row. And I have peripheral vision. I saw. And you were turned around facing the back of the room. And that's kind of a problem. You see, I'm the teacher and you should be looking at me. Would you like me to continue? No? Yeah it's not like your mom really believes me over her little angel anyway. Thanks for coming in and being confrontational. Oh yes. Of course you should apologize to me. But don't look me in the eye and definitely mumble it as though you think you have nothing to apologize for. Yes mom that was entirely acceptable.

I emailed the regular teacher and let her know what was up. And I went and talked with the Assistant Principal so that he knew what my plan was. We're all on the same page. I'm sure I'm going to get more visits from that mom. Her kid is getting a U. And there are several other parents I'm sure I'll get to see in the next few days too. Apparently I have to send out a warning email. "Dear Parent of deliquent child.... Stop enabling your student. He thinks he rules the world. He thinks he can treat anyone however he wants. He thinks there are no consequences. Guess what? CONSEQUENCE! You want to argue with me? Bring it on. P.S. They don't pay me enough to deal with your disrespectful child AND his whiney mother."

After I finished with all that drama, I got to drive to Magna and do 4 hours of Region Solo and Ensemble just to play for 5 students. Awesome. I had a very witty blog about my time at S/E, but Magna is a BLACK HOLE and my phone app said it posted it...but didn't. And now it's lost forever. It was a good one too.

I need some serious fun this weekend. Who's up for the task?

Fifty Percent

So I've recently been working on this song for voice lessons called Fifty Percent. It's a great low song and I love singing it. It talks about settling for Fifty Percent of things. And it got me thinking about how I settle for less than 100% of a lot of things.

I'm really not an under achiever. In fact, I'm a perpetual over achiever. Usually, if I don't give 110%, I consider it a failed attempt. Yeah. I have issues. But that's not really the point.

What I've been thinking about is how I've been settling for less than 100% Positive Attitude. And that changes now. No more settling for 50% Positive because that means 50% Negative. And quite frankly, I just can't handle my negative self. It makes me very unpleasant to live with(and I spend a lot of time with myself).

I've got some thoughts on how I'm going to fix things. First, I really need to be more grateful. I went back and read some of my gratitude posts. I especially liked my Day 90 Gratitude post. 90 things I'm thankful for. I'm still thankful for all those things. But sometimes I forget.

Second, I need to stop dwelling on the things that I can't control. This is going to be really really hard because I'm such a control freak. Some things are just out of my control. I'm going to let go. I am. Seriously! I CAN DO IT! It'll be FINE!

And I need to start taking action with things that ARE in my control. I can't just wait around for things to happen to me. I need to do it the Miss Frizzle way(Magic School Bus! Come on kids!) and Take Chances, Make Mistakes and Get Messy!

So that's the plan! No more Fifty Percent for me! 100% is the minimum! I hope you can all handle that much awesomeness!

Disney Dreams

I had a really awesome dream last night!  My family and I went to Disney World.  We did the whole Dining Plan thing too.  It was great!  We had reservations at all these fun restaurants.  And then I ran into some of my other friends at Disney World too!  It was so much fun!

I think my subconscious was trying to tell me that I need to plan a Disney trip!  Disneyland is opening the new Cars Land this summer.  It sounds pretty fun.  And I love seeing and experiencing the new stuff Disney does. 

Of course, there are my classic favorites too...

Fantasmic is one of my favorite things to do!  I saw the one in Disney World and it's a little different.  But the one in Disneyland is still my favorite.  And part of what I love is saving places for the show.  I know it's weird, but it's part of the tradition!  Eat some food.  Wait for the show to start.  Watch all the crazies trying to push their way into primo spots right as the show is starting.

Star Tours has been revamped.  And it's still one of my favorite things to do!  In fact, I love it even more now that it's new and improved!  And I got to be the Rebel spy in Florida.  Pretty awesome!  Not gonna lie, I've had that dream for a long time!  Yes.  I'm that kind of a nerd. 

Splash Mountain is a must.  But Space Mountain is better.  I'll ride the Matterhorn once, but it's not my favorite and it's not very comfortable.  But I'll never forget taking my grandparents on it and afterwards having my grandmother, completely out of breath, ask, "When did they redo that?  What happened to the deer and the miners."  Um, Grandma...it's always been like that.  Heeheehee. 

Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear are two of my favorite rides!  I love me some competitive game play! 

And I can't leave out Tower of Terror.  Definitely one of my absolute favorite rides!  What can I say, I love freefalling! 

That's just the tip of the iceberg as far as rides go.  And then there's all the research deciding where to stay, when to go, what else to do.  And I am such a pro at Disneyland.  I know when to go on what rides and how to use the Fastpass system and child swap so that line waiting is kept to the minimum.  And I know when the best times of the year to go are. 

Now I just need to start planning... who wants to come?  You've never done Disneyland until you've done Disneyland with me!

Perspective

I've been really whiney lately.  Life isn't always easy.  Life isn't always fair. I grew up hearing that from my parents all the time.  It would probably be good if I recorded that and listened to it from time to time so that I can be reminded.

Sometimes we throw ourselves little pity parties and we need a swift kick to the hind quarters.  Sure my life is less than ideal; less than what I imagined it would be for sure.  But far worse things are happening to far better people.  I wish I were a better person and didn't need these reminders. 

I'm definitely going to be working harder to keep perspective.  And complaining less.  Because as bad as I think things are, they could always be worse, and for many, they are.